Lessons Of Harmony at the Kumbha Mela

It has ever since been an agreed fact that big communities are always marred by instances of violence, hatred and crowd related problems. However the largest single gathering of people on Earth could hold the secret and teach how big communities can live together in harmony, discipline and accord.

Psychologists who completed a 3 year research in the area of crowd dynamics at the Kumbha Mela discovered findings that overturned many old beliefs about crowd behaviour. The Kumbha Mela is expected to bring together the equivalent of six times the population of Scotland in one place, yet there is virtually no disorder or rioting of the masses.

What the researchers found was that even though people at the festival came from different castes and social backgrounds, there was a strong sense of common identity relating to serenity and tranquil peace. Many even suggested that this stemmed from the lack of ‘them-and-us’ psychology which is believed to be the root cause of various social evil. Despite the fact that the mela seems to increase stress in various aspects like being too noisy, too crowded & polluted, not too healthy etc… it was found that the pilgrims had an unstressed, serene and peaceful feeling.

The findings actually question the basic fundamentals about the nature of collective participation and how it affects both individual well being and social cohesion. Drawn parallel to the western society where there is a marked distinction between the immigrants and non-immigrants, Kumbha Mela seems to stand by the idealogy that it is the responsibility of every individual to avoid doing anything to entrench a "them-and-us mentality" between communities and thereby disrupting social cohesion. It was also discovered that people at the Kumbha Mela are more orderly, supportive, generous and attentive to the needs of strangers and hence the well being of the social ambience. Another vital lesson and a very important one for people from all over the world and from all walks of life to realize and understand from the essence of Kumbha Mela

Come and experience the next Kumbha Mela with www.kalpavasi.com at Haridwar, India. The Mela starts on the 1^st Jan 2010 and ends on April 30^th 2010.

Attendance Figure Confetti & the Kumbha Mela

Parades are always an attraction for the common man and I am sure many would have come across them in instances more than one. The latest one I was in was when the Phillies had won the World Series. Rivers of red - caps, sweatshirts, jerseys, and jackets - lined Broad Street as a caravan of trucks carrying players, coaches, executives, ball girls, and broadcasters led the champions around the city

Rowdies on rooftops. Tangles of truants. Gawkers at office windows. Gridlocked groups on side streets. Media helicopters. And lots of police. They all joined a human-sardine production line that stretched for miles. "The streets were so crowded, it was unbelievable," was what almost everyone had to say.

What's unbelievable is the oft-quoted estimate that two million people turned out. No one will ever know for sure, but even half that might still be too high. The time has come to rein in such outlandish estimates. And look deep.

Experts explain that the exaggeration results due to the fact that nobody wants the truth in circumstances like this and is accentuated by the “hometown boosterism effect”. Even Obama's sprawling inaugural extravaganza fell short of two million, though it did set a record with 1.8 million people, according to the official city council services.

Some experts also call the untoward projections of attendance as SWAG - "stupid, wild-ass guesses”. The most precise yardstick is to find an actual count, like ticket sales or entry passes etc..

Two million is a considerable stretch beyond anyone’s imagination. But what crowd dynamic experts agree without dispute is that it is possible in India during the period of the Kumbha Mela when hordes of pilgrims, holy-men, sages, tourists and common men confluence at the banks of the river Ganges. The pilgrimage occurs four times every twelve years, once at each of the four locations. Each twelve-year cycle includes the Maha (great) Kumbha Mela at Prayag, attended by millions of people, making it the largest holy gathering in the world.

A ritual bath at a predetermined time and place is the major event of this festival. Other activities include religious discussions, devotional singing, mass feeding of holy men/women and the poor, and religious assemblies where doctrines are debated and standardized. Kumbha Mela (especially the Maha Kumbha Mela) is the most sacred of all the Hindu pilgrimages. Thousands of holy men/women (monks, saints, sadhus) grace the occasion by their presence. The auspiciousness of Kumbha Mela is in part attributed to the gathering of thousands of holy men/women at one place on earth.

It is estimated that almost 5 Million people are likely to land up in the upcoming 2010 Kumbha Mela at Haridwar, Uttarkhand, India. I don’t think there is any better place to see and understand mass crowd dynamism than the Kumbha Mela. I do intend to be there with the experts. www.kalpavasi.com – who understand and explore Kumbha Mela not only from a religions and spiritual standpoint but also from a scientific fact based knowledge standpoint. A once in a lifetime opportunity for crowd enthusiasts to explore the largest confluence of people with the undisputed experts in the field.

Why Study the Kumbha Mela…?!?

Now, Now…! This is quite a broad topic on why someone should take the interest and time to study the Kumbha Mela. I came across the website, www.kalpavasi.com which provides an opportunity for students from various universities to study the Kumbha Mela on different aspects of science, faith and spirituality. It was this idea which triggered the question, why should somebody take the time to study the Kumbha Mela..?

Other than the fundamental well known Kumbha Mela facts like, the worlds largest manmade temporary city (Mela Kshetra), largest gathering of people in the world, happens once in every 12 years, Congregation of 30 Million people with no violence, crime, hatred or stealing etc..., Wonder if Malcom Gladwell visited the Kumbha Mela before he came up with the idea of group dynamism in the Tipping Point..!?!

It is the largest unofficial congregation of faith and faith based organizations, majority of them indeed affiliated to Hinduism. However do not be surprised to see Muslim clerics performing their rituals on the banks of Ganges during the Kumbha Mela. After all the essence of Kumbha Mela lies in its promise of the eternal salvation, unifying the human spirit with that One God, which transcends beyond religion and faith.

It is said that the purpose of religion is to bring enlightenment to the individual, happiness to the society, and help the individual to move from being a limited entity to universality and to be in communion with the Divine. When at times these ideals are far from reality congregations such as the Kumbha Mela where people of various faiths gather together presents a great opportunity for studying religious dynamism and the overlapping faiths and beliefs across various religious practices

It is also an opportunity to study various faith based organizations which are considered to play a vital role in the transformation of present day society. Though we may have moved away from the blemish of medieval conflicts to a more tolerant and co-operative society, it is believed that faith based organizations still have a vital role to play in defining the tenets of future society. The need multicultural and multi-religious education to reach every nook and corner of the planet is NOW and which better place to study fascinating aspects of Faith, Religion, Spirituality, Science and Management than the Kumbha Mela..?

Kumbha Mela – An Overview

With excerpts from various sources and knowledge reference from www.kalpavasi.com

Kalpavasi.com is the most comprehensive website on the Kumbha Mela providing complete and up to date information on the history of the Kumbha Mela along with travel assistance, advisory and expert services. The website is a result of 10 years of research by renowned Indologists, award winning documentary producers, religious scholars, spiritual leaders and experts in the fields of Anthropology, Sociology and Vedic Sciences.

The Kumbh Mela witnesses the largest gathering of humanity on the planet, as the eternal Hindu faith shines as a jewel in the crown. A full moon generally heralds the start of the festival of the sacred urn. The Maha Kumbh Mela happens once every twelve years in the Northern Indian city of Allahabad.

The Mughal Emperor Akbar gave the name to the city in 1583. The "Allah" in the name does not refer to Allah as God's name in Islam but from the Din-Ilahi, which was the religion founded by Akbar. In Indian alphabets it is spelt "Ilāhābād": "ilāh" is Arabic for "God”, and - ābād" is Persian for "place of".

The city where the Kumbha Mela happens in Allahabad is known as Prayag (Sanskrit for "place of sacrifice" and is considered the holy place where Lord Brahma offered his first sacrifice after creating the world). It is one of four sites of the Kumbh Mela, the others being Haridwar, Ujjain and Nasik. The upcoming Kumbha Mela in 2010 will be held in Haridwar, India starting from Jan until April.

For complete information on the upcoming Mela including package services visit www.kalpavasi.com

Prayag is located at the confluence of the holy rivers Ganga, Yamuna, and the invisible Saraswati. The ancient Saraswati (Naditama) whose existence was denied for centuries by western geographers and termed ‘mythical’ has now been shown through LANDSAT imagery by NASA to be real. This vindicates the ancient Vedic scriptures that have always described its glory.

“Aum Gange cha’ Yamune chaiva Godavari Sarasvati, Narmada Sindhu Kaveri jala ‘asmin sanidhim kuru.”

Millions of years back earthquakes and other natural phenomenon caused the 'Naditama', or River Saraswati, to dry up and become subterranean. The river got diverted eastwards into the upper Yamuna, and thus its water reaches Allahabad. It is believed that Saraswati flows underground from its source in the Shivalik Mountains in the north, under the deserts of Rajasthan and through Gujarat.

The Puranic scriptures relate that four drops of the elixir of immortality or ‘amrit’ spilt from a divine pitcher during a battle between the forces of good and evil. Each portion of the ambrosial liquid fell at Allahabad, Haridwar, Nasik and Ujjain.

The next Kumbha Mela will be held in in 2010 from Jan – April at Haridwar, India. The significant bathing days for the upcoming 2010 Kumbha Mela are…

January 14, 2010 (Thursday) Makar Sankranti Snan First Snan (bath)
January 15, 2010 (Friday) Mauni Amavasya and Surya Grahan (Solar Eclipse) Second Snan (bath)
January 20, 2010 (Wednesday) Basant Panchmi Snan Third Snan (bath)
January 30, 2010 (Saturday) Magh Purnima Snan Fourth Snan (bath)
February 12, 2010 (Friday) Maha Shivratri ratham Shahi Snan (First Royal Bath)*
March 15, 2010 (Monday) Somvati Amavasya Dvitya Shahi Snan (Second Royal Bath)*
March 16, (Tuesday) Nvasamvatsar Snan Fifth Snan (bath)
March 24, 2010 (Wednesday) Rama Navami Sixth Snan (bath)
March 30, 2010 (Tuesday) Chaitra Purnima/Vasishnav Akhara Snan seventh Snan (bath)
April 14, 2010 (Wednesday) Baisakhi Pramukh Shahi Sanan (Main Royal Bath)
April 28, 2010 (Wednesday) Vaishakh Adimasaha Purnima Snan for the Vairagis/Bairagis (Fourth Royal Bath)*

This extraordinary display of faith defies logic and many cynics have questioned what drives the faithful to undertake a sometimes-difficult journey. It is the magnetism of the unique planetary configuration at the time of the Kumbh Mela that beckons the primeval soul intrinsic to us all. Despite our worldly trappings, we still seek a higher consciousness that cannot be found from material things. Periodically the planets align to open up this channel to salvation at these exclusive sites.

A fundamental precept of Sanatan Dharma is reincarnation, whereby, the soul undergoes a number of life cycles until it reaches moksha - liberation from the cycle of birth, death and rebirth, eventually joining the Supreme Being. During each of these lives an individual has the chance to better himself through righteous actions or ‘punya‘. If is believed that even the most well intentioned individual will commit wrongful deeds during his life, which may jeopardize the prospects for the soul in the next. The Universal Being through his compassion and love for us all has provided a divine shortcut to deliverance through the Kumbh Mela. A person, irrespective of worldly divisions such as creed, caste or status enters a divine realm where all previous sins are washed away. By bathing in the sacred waters at the auspicious time, the indiscretions of many lives are eliminated, thereby allowing the soul to be eligible for enlightenment.

The Kumbh Mela not only allows the pilgrim to be absolved of previous transgressions, but the numerous ‘Darshans’ (sights) and ‘Satsangs’ (audiences) with the plethora of Saints and enlightened ones, ensures that our minds are also purified and inspired to change our ways and discard our former lifestyles.

It is also believed that conduct alone is the ultimate determinant of a soul’s destiny. The Shastras stipulate ‘Aachaar heenam nah punanti Vedah’ that even knowledge of the entire Vedas, will not purify one devoid of good conduct. Remember that even the smallest candle flame can impart much light in a dark room. Therefore, a nominal act of kindness can undo centuries of indiscretions.

Let Mother Ganga during the Kumbha Mela purify our hearts with wisdom and awaken our minds so that we may become the models of virtue.